No Ho-Ho's For Santa....

 Another American business icon is getting ready to bite the bullet and go out of business. Hostess Brands, which makes baked goods such  as Twinkies, Devil Dogs and Wonder Bread, announced this past Friday that it is asking a federal bankruptcy court for permission to close its operations. Hostess is blaming a strike by bakers protesting a new contract.

Nearly 18,500 workers will be losing their jobs as the company shuts 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers nationwide, as well as 570 outlet stores. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union represents around 5,000 Hostess employees. 

"We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," said CEO Gregory Rayburn.

 The company was trying to reorganize through a bankruptcy and was asking for an 8% cut to employees' wages, a reduction in health benefits, and a freeze in pension plan payments for more than two years. The company would also not pay $2 billion it owes to many of its creditors, including vendors.To help offset some of the reductions, the plan would also give its unionized employees a 25% equity stake in the company, and two seats on its board of directors, and an interest-bearing note worth $100 million.

Hey Ladies, are you smiling today?

So it may have been trying to reduce its costs and overhead in the current economy but those 18,500 workers would have still had jobs. I can understand both sides to a degree and I also admit that if it weren't for unions, this country's workers would have remained close to slave laborers making unlivable wages under horrible working conditions. Just look back at working conditions in the early part of the 1900's. But I also believe that unions can demand too much from companies that aren't in a position to agree to the requested contracts. At times, I think that unions don't care what happens to workers that go on strike, just as long as they can get the employees to stop work and use that as a bargaining tool. 
 It appears that this time an American company could not withstand a strike and couldn't increase its contract offer. 

It should be noted that the 7,500 members of the Teamsters union that work at Hostess narrowly approved the contract. They have been sharply critical of the smaller Bakers' union decision to strike, saying it was forcing the company to the cusp of liquidation.

If you're happy and you know it raise your hands....

 So the 18,000-plus workers will now be out of a job. They went from a proposed 8% decrease in pay to a 100% decrease! Yes, they'll be on the government dole for the allotted unemployment period. Yes, they can say they stood up for what they thought was right. They'll also find that they won't be bringing home as much money and that money will stop at some point. They will suddenly be without health insurance. And they'll be competing against each other to find other work. The suppliers and vendors for Hostess will also suffer and perhaps some of those will have to close their doors. The towns that the workers lived in will suffer from a lack of business. It just keeps trickling down until it affects thousands more people.

Hostess is the No. 2 bread baker in the country and had annual sales of about $2.5 billion. The company said it had been making 500 million Twinkies and 127 million loaves of Wonder Bread annually before Friday's shutdown. It was founded in 1930 in Kansas City by
Ralph Leroy Nafziger as a wholesaler selling bread loaves wrapped in gingham to grocery stores.

So say goodbye to Beefsteak, Butternut, Home Pride, Merita, and Nature's Pride breads. Say goodbye to Millbrook, Standish Farms and Sweetheart brands. And wave goodbye to little ole Dolly Madison. Say goodbye to another American business institution. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you turkeys.

Crafty Craftsman.....

I read an interesting article in this past Sunday's paper, the Tampa Bay Times. It was a story written by Shalia Dewan from the NY Times about an American inventor from Chicago named Dan Brown that invented the Bionic Wrench. That won't mean much to most you you ladies but trust me, it's a great little tool that most guy's would love. You can Google it for details.

Last Christmas, Sears was selling the wrench at a fast pace. This year, though, Sears has a special display for its own wrench, made in the red and black colors of its house brand, Craftsman.

One customer who recently saw the new Craftsman tool, called the Max Axess wrench, thought it was an obvious knockoff, right down to the try-me packaging. "I saw it and I said, 'This is a Bionic Wrench'," recalled Dana Craig.

The tools have one significant difference, Craig noted. The Bionic Wrench is made in the United States and the Max Axcess is made in China.

Sears' switch from a tool invented and manufactured in the United States to a very similar one made offshore has already led to a loss of American jobs and a brewing patent battle. 

Craftsman tools are billed as, "America's most trusted tool brand". Are you trusting them as much now? This battle also raises questions about how much entrepreneurs and innovators, who rely on the country's intellectual property laws, can protect themselves. For the little guy, court battles are inevitably time-consuming and costly, no matter the outcome. Still, Dan Brown is determined to fight. 

Since Sears has halted new orders for the Bionic Wrench, the Pennsylvania company that makes the tool has had to lay off 31 workers, said Keith Hammer, the project manager at the company, Penn United Technologies.

"Our situation is an example of why we're not getting jobs out of innovation," Brown said. "When people get the innovation, they go right offshore. What happened to me is what happened to many people so many times, and we just don't talk about it."

Inventors typically spend $10,000 to $50,000 to obtain the type of patent Brown has on the wrench. The fact that Sears made some small changes to the wrench's design will make the case more challenging.

So there you have another example of not only patent infringement but a major US company that is having its products made offshore. I do have some Craftsman tools from years ago. But I haven't bought any in recent years so I'm hoping that they were made in the US years ago. But they may not have been. I can tell you that I have bought my last tool from Sears. If possible, my last item from Sears, period. Of course you can hardly buy any clothes, shoes, or household item that is made in the U.S. but I can control who I buy from. And with Sears pulling this trick on an American manufacturer and an American inventor, I will try not to ever buy from them again. 

I was disappointed with Sears a few years ago when they sold out to, of all companies, KMart. This is the turning point for me. I'll be writing to them saying no more Sears or KMart purchases from me. I bet Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck are turning over in their graves!

Say What??!??

 I copied a report from FreeRepublic.com showing another example of a person that has a job reporting for a news media organization. Our old friend Chris Matthews.



Chris Matthews Glad U.S. Had Hurricane Sandy
Nov. 07, 2012 | Renee Nal

Posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2012 11:24:57 AM by Schatze

MSNBC's Chris Matthews has been unhinged for awhile. He is continually proving to be off the deep end, and does not disappoint with his most recent comment, "I'm so glad we had that storm last week."
Last week, Matthews referred to people who question man-made global warming (or is it "climate change?") as "pigs." This week, he is thrilled about a storm that has caused people their lives and property, all because of his perception that the storm boosted President Obama's re-election chances.
Even Rachel Maddow let out a little gasp at his comment, and Lawrence O'Donnell (who recently reported on a satire story as if it was real) shook his head.
Matthews should be ashamed of himself for putting his partisan agenda above the very real suffering caused by Hurricane Sandy. It is reminiscent of a similar comment recently made by yet another media figure, Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, who spoke of Hurricane Sandy as an opportunity "seemingly from above" for President Obama "where he could look like that strong, independent, steady in a storm, very appealing to the middle of the road voters".
The disconnect from "real people" by the mainstream media grows more and more apparent by the day.
Watch the inane comment here:
Chris Matthews quickly added that he only meant the comment in the "political" sense, not "in terms of hurting people." His clarification is most likely not so comforting to those who were impacted by Sandy. The storm caused mass devastation, and left tens of thousands without shelter.
Don't expect the steady drumbeat of partisan rhetoric spouted by the mainstream media to go away anytime soon. Unless people start demanding more objectivity by tuning out the crazies; the partisan divide will deepen and the nasty polarization will only continue.

 Do you think that if Maddow hadn't let out that gasp that Matthews would have corrected himself by saying he meant it in only the "political sense"? I don't. He knows that Obama's response to the storm allowed him to gain more votes. And really, what did Obama do that any other sitting president wouldn't have done? He just declares an emergency, signs some papers and flys to the scene for a photo-op. There are government agencies that handle all the work.
This is just another example of how crazy Matthews is and how he is still allowed to remain on the air.
Watch the video here: Foot In Mouth